Chalet Edelweiss in Courchevel France
Price From £66,250 to £ 372,600
Ten nights just after new year comes in at a mere €450,000, while Feb half term week is a bargain at €280,000. So what do you get for splashing the cash in the exclusive resort of Courchevel (aka Courchevel 1850)?
Well let’s start with an enormous indoor pool, state of the art gym and a private bar/nightclub. Edelweiss sleeps 16, with the two main bedrooms being around 100m² each - you also get a steam room, snooker table and a lift for your car, as you wouldn’t want to have to walk up some stairs after parking your car now would you? Did we mention the cinema, massage room and library..?
As for some help with the chores, there’s a chef, a butler, and a driver - who actually costs an extra €50/hr after 10pm - and bizarrely, after stumping up a small fortune for chalet Edelweiss, you still have to pay more for any food and drink consumed.
www.oxfordski.com/properties/edelweiss
The Lodge, Verbier, Switzerland
Price from £55,000 - £100,000 for exclusive hire
This little beauty is owned by Sir Richard Branson and sleeps 16. The price includes half board and all drinks, including house champagne, and, as their website claims, ‘really nice staff’. Well that’s a bonus, as for £100,000 a week we wouldn’t expect mardy staff, would we?
The Lodge is spread over five floors and has a swimming pool, gym, spa and two Jacuzzis - one outside on the balcony. The two master suites are huge but there’s also a bunk room for kids, at the bargain price of CHF 525 and CHF 840 per child per week, depending on age, if not renting The Lodge in its entirety.
There’s an open plan kitchen, so you can check the chefs not dropped a sausage in the custard, and a very fine wine collection - and while you’re waiting for dinner, you could always try a spot of curling on The Lodge's own mini ice rink.
www.thelodge.virgin.com
Chalet N Oberlech, Austria
Price on request, but believed to be from £230,000 to £270,000 a week
Chalet N sleeps a max of 24 people, behind bulletproof glass, and has 26 staff, so a little over one staff per guest, just about the right ratio we think.
All suits have 3D-TVs, and the spa has all you’ll need and expect at the price, including a hay sauna, an ice fountain and salt gallery steam bath (whatever that is). You can even get your hair done by the in-house stylist, as I always fancy a short back and sides post skiing.
The ski room has an elevator to the slopes, so no clunking up or down stairs in your ski boots, and when showering off all the dirt (in your rainforest shower, after mixing with common people on the slopes), you can always pull the Swarovski crystal curtains behind you.
www.chalet-n.com
Bighorn, Revelstoke, Canada
From £28,000 to £57,000 a week
The Bighorn is one for the serious skier with serious money, as it’s marketed as a heliski chalet and has its own private heli pad - how cool is that?! The helicopter isn’t included in the chalet’s rent and costs a mere £4,000 a day for 4 people.
On bad weather days you have to make do with the fantastic resort of Revelstoke, with its adjacent cat-skiing operation, to keep you happy.
As for the timber-framed Chalet Bighorn, with its central, triple height, open-fired great room, well: you get a wellness area, private cinema, bar with pool table, a small swimming pool, a huge outdoor hot tub, a driver and a state of the art security system - just in case anyone’s after you.
Daily newspapers and all other information is available daily, via Bighorn’s ipads, handy if you need to sell a few stocks to cover the bill for this 16 person chalet.
www.bighornrevelstoke.com
One Oak Combloux near Megeve, France
From £20,350 to £35,920
One Oak isn’t anywhere near the most expensive alpine chalet, but we put it on our list for pure style.
Sleeping a maximum of 12 people, the ‘One Oak’ has a master suite, 4 double rooms and a bunk room. You can either hire it as a self-catering chalet and bring your own chef, or hire it fully staffed.The open plan living room has a Harley-Davidson motorbike parked next to a tiger skin rug, with pop art above the fireplace ….only in France.
The sun deck has spectacular views of Mont Blanc, and while yes, you have to be rich to stay here, it’s not just for the oligarchs.
www.chaletoneoak.com
Chalet des Drus Chamonix France
From £30,000 to £37,000
‘Des Drus’ claims to be the most exclusive property in Chamonix, and we kind of like it too. It’s a five star chalet with first class staff, including a chef and chauffeur who will take very good care of you.Le Chalet des Drus has an indoor swimming pool, steam room, a small gym, outdoor hot tub and a massage room. It sleeps 14 people, with 6 bedrooms in the main building and one in the separate spa building - bit rough for those who have to go outside to their bedroom after dinner.
The thing which marks out Le Chalet Drus is not just the spectacular views of Mont Blanc massif, Le Brevent and the Aguille Vert, but the fact that the chalet sits within a 4,000m2 private park - super cool for those looking not to be over looked.
www.hipchalets.com
Zermatt Peak, Zermatt, Switzerland
From £43,750 to £84,000No top ten list of expensive chalets will do unless you have at least one in Zermatt, so we’ve chosen Zermatt Peak, and wow, is it flash and over the top.
Built into the edge of a cliff, the ‘Zermatt Peak’ has double height windows, with the glass continuing above and over your head, enabling you to make great use of the highly polished brass binoculars for star gazing.
The 13 guests (a maximum of 10 adults) will be cared for by the chef, waiter, chauffeur, masseuse and house maid.
If you can drag yourself away from the 3D cinema, pool, library, gym and hot tub, the skiing in Zermatt isn’t too bad either, nor is the world class food and wine cellar.
www.chaletzermattpeak.com
Chalet Sophia, Davos, Switzerland
From £43,000
Style me up with those Zebra cushions and wall paper! The Chalet Sophia oozes chic and style, and we’re not talking some rich guy’s wife who thinks she’s an interior designer, we’re talking the Raj meets alpine, with stylishly angled pale furniture, set within a wood and stone chalet.
So what else to do you get for £40,000 plus? Well, the use of 2 chauffeur driven 4X4s, a very cool stone swimming pool, a large soft play area for the kids, and lest you forget, Klosters is a quick ski away.
Sleeping 16 people, with a bunk area for children, you’ll get champagne and canapés before dinner, and tea and coffee in bed each morning - nice touch.
www.hipchalets.com
Chalet Muztagh, Courchevel, France
From €75,600 to €205,000 per week
Back to Courchevel again, for this 10 bed luxury ski chalet, featuring a swimming pool with waterfalls - something we always look out for when booking a ski chalet.
Next to the wellness centre is the cinema, with nine reclinable armchairs - not too sure where the 10th person sits, maybe they just fetch drinks if the butler’s not to hand.
The Chalet Muztagh is the largest of many independent chalets managed and run by the exclusive K2 boutique hotel. Chalet Muztagh is rented as a private retreat, with its own staff, but you do get full access to the K2 hotel too.
Above the pool and cinema is the living area, with two huge rooms to chill out in as well as a library; above that are the sumptuous bedrooms, all with large balconies and almost as large flat screen TVs.
Price includes butler, maid and chef.
www.ski-boutique.co.uk
Pioneer Springs Luxury Estate Aspen Colorado USA
Around £126,000 week
You’re in luck if you like staying here, as you can buy it! It’s on the market for a little over £15 million.
Aspen is as posh as the good ole US of A gets. Stay here and you’ll be rubbing shoulders with A-list Hollywood stars, and the doctors who alter their faces.
Pioneer Springs is set within a 40 acre private estate, so perhaps you won’t have to put up with any Hollywood stars after all.
It comes with just a concierge and house keeper, so you’ll have to bring your own staff. It sleeps 15 people over 7 bedrooms, and is a ten minute drive to Snowmass, or 15 minutes to Aspen - so no giving the chauffeur a week off.
www.aspensignatureproperties.com
For more affordable but still awesome places to stay see our Cool Lodgings section
